Hundreds of Arkansans turned out in recent weeks to learn more and express their concern about proposed Congressional budget cuts to Medicaid, food assistance and other essential services.
More than 250 community members from across the state gathered at town halls hosted by Arkansas Advocates for Children and Families (AACF) in May and June to learn how the One Big Beautiful Bill Act’s proposed federal budget cuts will impact services for Arkansas families. AACF held these town halls in each of the four Congressional Districts at the following locations: Springdale, Helena-West Helena, Little Rock, and El Dorado. AACF also led a virtual town hall via Zoom for those who were not able to attend in person. As members of Congress work to consider slashing the federal budget to pay for tax cuts that won’t benefit people with low incomes, Arkansas communities rallied together to show support for vital programs that keep children and families in Arkansas healthy and safe.
During the town halls, advocates discussed sweeping cuts to essential programs like Medicaid, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), and federal renters’ assistance programs administered by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) that could leave children in Arkansas uninsured, unfed, and unhoused. Local community members also voiced their concerns and shared how the proposed cuts would directly impact their lives. AACF provided important information about the federal budget reconciliation process, the latest updates on the bill, and the current timeline. Finally, policy experts from AACF, Arkansas Hunger Relief Alliance, Arkansas Community Organizations, the Economic Opportunity Agency of Washington County and Arkansas Support Network highlighted key data and related information on the number of people in Arkansas who benefit from critical programs like SNAP and Medicaid. They also outlined how cuts will disrupt access to health care coverage, food, and housing. Here are just a couple of examples provided:
- More than 400,000 Arkansans used SNAP to help feed their families at some point in fiscal year 2023, and of those, nearly 170,000 were children.
- Arkansas has the highest food insecurity rate in the nation at 18.9%, and hunger amongst children is even higher at nearly 25%. Cuts to SNAP will be devastating for Arkansans already struggling with tough choices. Feeding their families shouldn’t have to be one.
- Lance Whitney, Advocacy Director at the Arkansas Hunger Relief Alliance, shared the alarming statistic that for every one meal a charitable food organization in Arkansas provides, the SNAP program provides nine. In short, the assumption that churches, food banks, and other charitable food organizations could pick up the slack from lost SNAP meals is simply not realistic.
- More than 800,000 Arkansans are insured through Medicaid, and of those, more than 400,000 are children.
- Medicaid is the single largest provider of health care coverage for individuals and families across the nation, and this coverage is especially important for families living in rural areas and small towns across Arkansas. In Arkansas, over half of the children living in these communities rely on Medicaid coverage to access essential health care services.
- No rural hospital in Arkansas has closed since Arkansas expanded Medicaid in 2013. Sweeping cuts to the Medicaid program could turn that statistic in the wrong direction. With skyrocketing amounts of uncompensated care, rural hospitals that provide essential care for our most vulnerable populations could suffer drastic and unsustainable budget crises.
It doesn’t matter if you don’t need SNAP to feed your family, don’t need Medicaid for your children to see a doctor when they’re sick, or don’t need federal housing assistance to make sure your loved ones have a safe place to sleep. Devastating cuts to these critical programs will impact you. Reductions in federal Medicaid dollars that Arkansas receives could cause your rural hospital to close and limit the school-based healthcare offered at your child’s school. Cuts to SNAP could leave your friends, neighbors, and community members without access to the food they need to thrive and contribute to the closure of smaller, independently owned grocery stores.
The harmful provisions in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act will result in the largest rollback in food assistance in history and the largest cut in the Medicaid program’s 50-year history. Tell Senators Boozman and Cotton to reject the bill’s proposals and keep Arkansas kids insured, fed, and housed!
Need more information about potential impacts these cuts could have on Arkansas families?
Watch the Virtual Town Hall recording